


Let's get you checked out

by LittleLuxxie



Series: The Andromeda Galaxy [1]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Custom Female Ryder | Sara, Emotional Hurt, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Relationship, SAM trying to help, Sara told Scott the truth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-11-08 15:32:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11084553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleLuxxie/pseuds/LittleLuxxie
Summary: After leaving the med-bay on the Hyperion, she had refused to talk to anyone and sought a place to be alone. All she wanted was to be sad and weak for a moment, without any witnesses. But that seemed to be too much to ask for.





	1. Chapter 1

The tears burned behind Sara’s eyes, and she bit down hard on her lower lip. She tried to suppress a sob, but tears spilled over and trailed their way down her cheeks. She was glad no one could see her. She had climbed up on a beam outside some windows overlooking the Docking Bay. The chatter from people below her was a distant backdrop. She couldn’t make out words, but the atmosphere was cautiously optimistic. Right now, she couldn’t care less about any of them. She pulled her knees tighter to her chest, and hid her face between her arms and legs. The anxiety went in waves through her body, it physically ached in her chest and stomach. She bit down harder on her lip, almost drawing blood.

Scott’s pained voice echoed inside her head. “This is a nightmare.” When the connection was lost, the panic had threatened to tear her apart. Harry said he hadn’t taken any damage, but how could she be sure? What if this hindered his recovery in some way? She would never forgive herself. She couldn’t even imagine how this must have been for Scott, he hadn’t even woken up yet. If she had fallen asleep in the Milky Way, and the next thing she knew Scott was talking in her head. Telling her their father’s dead, how would that have felt? She didn’t even know how conscious Scott actually was, did he have the capability to cope with the information? There were so many questions without answers. She wished she could be there for him. And she wished he could be here for her. Usually, there was rarely more than a week between her and Scott speaking. She had never felt more alone than she had in these last few weeks since arriving in Andromeda. Maybe this would’ve been easier to handle if she only had had him here.

“Sara,” a voice in her head said.

“What, SAM?” her tone was testy.

“You are upset, but Scott will be fine.”

“You can’t know that, nobody can know what’s going to happen.”

“There is nothing wrong with his neural pathways, nor his physiology.”

“Not everything can be measured SAM, emotional hurt can be just as bad.”

“You are hurting, is that as bad?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“My readings of your hormone levels suggest otherwise. Your heart rate is up, your tear ducts are overflowing, the levels of cortisol in your system is high-”

“Don’t you think I know I’m crying?”

“I see. You tried to lie to me.”

“Leave me alone, SAM.”

“That is impossible, Sara, I am linked to your mind.”

“Then go bother someone else, just focus on Cora, Liam, Vetra or who the fuck you want. Talk to them, just let me be.”

“I am sorry I upset you. I will not act on the readings from you, for now.”

“Thank you.”

When she got no answer, a relief spread through her. She knew he meant no offense, but she didn’t have the patience for him at the moment. And his social skill still left much to be desired. Not surprising, since it was her father who had programmed him. That intimate connection to SAM, she was still getting used to it. Sometimes he annoyed her to no end, sometimes she liked him and sometimes he was invaluable. It shifted fast between them, just like a relationship with a real person. It was strange. And now she felt lonely again and missed his company. Damn it.

Her breath hitched and the tears started flowing again. She made a futile effort to stop it, but then she hid her face in her arms, and let it out. Hiccupping, sniveling, whimpering and crying. She thought her heart would break. Dad, Scott, mom, the crushed dream, the responsibility on her shoulders, her loneliness. It all flooded her mind and became a mess of anxiety and unfinished thoughts.

She cried until she felt like there was no fluid left in her. Her eyes were stinging, and she rubbed the palm of her hands across her face, drying her tears away. She pushed back her hair and tried to compose herself.

“All right, Sara, that’s enough self-pity. Pull yourself together,” she said. While taking deep breaths she felt the pain ebb away, and her heart rate slowing down to its normal pace. She peeked down over the edge, trying to discern the best way down, without getting spotted. Her climbing the walls and hiding weren't something she wanted the whole station to know, she could just imagine Tann’s or Addison’s reaction if they got wind of it. She got up around the Hydroponics, but there was a lot of people around there, maybe it would be better to-

“Sara?” The voice had an apprehensive tone that was unusual. “May I talk to you?”

She chuckled. “Yes, SAM, it’s okay. Sorry for being curt with you.”

“It is fine.”

“So, what’s up?”

“Liam wanted to know how you are feeling, and he is on his way to you now.”

“What?” she blurted in a high-pitched voice, “Why? What did you do?”

“He asked why I wanted to speak with him, so I told him you were upset and had asked me to leave you alone. Then he wanted to know where you were, so I told you are up here.”

“Oh my god, SAM! Why would you do that?” Oh, how she wished he was a physical person so she could hit him over the head.

“Your endorphin levels always rise when you speak with him so I believed he could help with your distress.”

Her cheeks started to burn. “You got to be kidding me. Tell me you didn’t say that to him.”

“I did not know that was something you wanted to be kept secret, why is that?”

She groaned, hiding her face in her hands and shaking her head. “You stupid freaking AI. Where is he?”

“Right below your position, trying to find a way up. Should I assist him?”

“Of all the-… No, SAM, no. Tell him that he is under no circumstances starting to climb the wall in clear view of the entire Docking Bay!”

There was a pause.

“He is insisting on coming up here.”

Of course he was, she rolled her eyes in exasperation, but a tiny bit of her was content with the concern he showed her.

“I’m coming down. Past the Hydroponics and the apartment blocks. Tell him that before he makes a scene,” she said with a weak smile, and started edging alongside the windows towards a place to climb down.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been re-writing this chapter for forever, so now I just posted it because it won't get any better by laying on my computer for another few months. So I hope you will like it.

A few floors below her she saw Liam, waiting for her. She had seen him entering the corridor, and was trying to convince the buzzing in her stomach to go down. It wasn’t butterflies, it was more like angry wasps. They did not want to go down and embarrass herself even worse. But he stood there, and she had no choice. The drop was a bit further than she had expected, and even though she cushioned her fall with biotics, her landing was less than graceful. Regaining her footing, she pretended to brush of her pants and inspect her shoes, while trying to get her burning cheeks under control.

“Hi, there,” Liam said, and she saw his feet stepping into her line of view.

Sara cleared her throat and looked up. “Uh, hi.”

“SAM said you were upset,” he said and searched her eyes. “He asked for my help.”

“Well, yeah. Sorry, I didn’t mean for him to, I just wanted him to stop bothering me.” She crossed her arms over chest and leaned her back against the wall, then a weak smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Though I actually told him to go bother some of you instead.”

“I see.” Liam chuckled. “But it’s fine you know. If there’s anything I can do...” He put a hand on her arm and squeezed for a moment. Before she thought closer about it, she grabbed his hand and held it for a while.

“Thanks.” She smiled weakly at him.

“Anytime.” When he removed his hand, her arm felt cold. “So, has something happened?”

She shrugged and laughed joylessly.

“Apart from the joke of an Initiative we are and the fucking mess that is this galaxy?” The bitterness infested every word. Liam looked uncomfortable and shifted his weight, but with unusual patience, he just waited for her to continue. She took a deep breath. “I talked to Scott.”

He was quiet for a moment, searching her face. “And that isn’t a good thing because…?”

“He’s still in a coma, SAM got through to his implant, somehow.”

“Wow, he can do that?”

She nodded. “Surprised me too. But he couldn’t keep it up for long. Don’t get me wrong, it was great to hear Scott’s voice again, if only like that.” She felt the tears burn behind her eyes again, and drew a few deep breaths before continuing, there had been more than enough crying for one day. “He… asked about dad, and the golden worlds. It wasn’t easy to break the news to him.”

“Ryder, I’m sorry.”

“Thanks,” she grimaced, it was supposed to be a smile but she failed, “Let’s say he didn’t take it well, you should’ve heard him.”

“Well, yeah, that’s a lot to take in on one go,” he said.

“I know, but then the connection broke. And I don’t know-“ a deep breath, “SAM says he’ll be fine, but how can I be sure?” She had done her best to keep the pleading out of her voice, but didn’t think she had been entirely successful.

“You can’t,” he said simply. Her eyes snatched to him. She hugged herself, one hand unconsciously stroking the other arm. “No one can ever be certain. But nothing has changed, right?

“I guess not,” she said slowly. Then she chuckled and shook her head. “You really know how to comfort a girl, don’t you?”

He laughed a little awkwardly and shrugged. She smiled at him.

“Come on,” he said, nodded with his head that they should go.

“Why?” she said, without moving.

“Come on,” he said again. With a small smile, and a light grip on her hand, he tugged her along.

“Fine, what do you have in mind?”

 “I thought we’d go back to the Tempest and watch a vid, I have the perfect one.”

Now that she was following, he let go of her and they walked side by side.

“A vid? Is that your solution for everything?” she asked teasingly.

Liam looked like he thought it over and shrugged, “Pretty much, yeah.”

She laughed.

When they left the Apartment areas and walked along the Docking Bay, Sara asked, “So, what is this ‘perfect’ vid?”

“Don’t tell anyone, but I got my hand on a copy of the new Blasto-movie,” he said.

“The new new?”

“The very same.”

“But it hadn’t been released yet when we left the Milky Way?”

“I have my ways,” he winked.

She smiled, but then caught herself. “I guess we could watch that. I’ve never been much for Blasto, really.”

Liam laughed. “Come off it, I know you like them.”

She looked everywhere but at him, and shrugged.

“If you don’t, then why did you bring a Blasto t-shirt across 2 million light years?”

“How do you know about my Blasto-shirt?”

“You sleep in it.”

She stared at him.

“And you go to the bathroom, yeesh, I’m not a pervert.”

She squinted, then chuckled. “Fine, but never tell Scott. He would never let me forget it.”

“My lips are sealed.”

“Good, ‘cause I’ve teased him mercilessly about his obsession with the vids for years.”

Liam laughed again, shaking his head and then said, “He’s in a coma, you can like it however much you want until he wakes up.”

“You do realize I’m trying to forget my brother’s in a coma?” she asked with a raised eyebrow, but the weak smile was still on her lips.

“You shouldn’t forget, that’s not the point. The point is to handle it, and keep going.”

She looked at him, and he smiled reassuringly.

“You’re right. Thanks, Kosta.” Her hand brushed against his.

“Anytime, Ryder.” He took her hand.


End file.
